Your 2012 Dominican Summer League Brewers -- Season Complete

[Mass Haas]

The DSL Summer Season begins today, Saturday, June 2nd.

 

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Two players who saw action in Maryvale in 2011 are on the DSL roster to begin 2012, INF Alejandro Machado and 6'6", 230 lb. Hitaniel Arias, the former high-profile signee who is converting to pitcher this year, as we told you earlier this spring.

 

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LHP Brandol Perez, listed as a November 2011 signing in this year's Brewers media guide and discussed in detail by us here, is not listed on the updated DSL roster as of yet.

 

Keep in mind that the online MiLB.com DSL roster may update after today's first official game is in the books.

 

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Four new signees that were discussed in this earlier post are now listed on the DSL roster.

 

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20-year-old RHP Elvis Mora has been placed on the reserve list, according to the DSL transaction page, updated on Friday 6/1.

 

From MiLB.com -- Reserve list: This is now a little-used term, primarily seen in the Mexican League where teams have a 35-man roster but only 30 players may be active per game, so the other five players are technically on the reserve list.

 

(And actually, MiLB.com also lists DSL roster limits at 35, it doesn't appear the Brewers are quite there.)

 

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RHP Osmel Perez is listed as on the restricted list.

 

From MiLB.com - The Restricted List is used for many reasons. A team can request that a player be placed on the restricted list if that player has left the team without a valid reason, or has announced his intention to retire but is still of an age or level of skill that could allow him to return to professional baseball in the future. In effect, the team states that it retains rights to the player if and when he becomes active again.

 

A player on the restricted list cannot be signed by another team unless compensation is paid to the team who placed him on the list. The list is honored throughout organized baseball and in leagues that have working agreements to respect the contracts of organized baseball, such as Nippon Pro Baseball. The list is most often used today when a player retires at a young age without receiving his unconditional release. If he decides to return to playing, he must do so with his last team, unless a trade or other deal can be worked out.

 

The Restricted List is also for players who are suspended because of failure to adhere to the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. It also may be used if a player violates contact terms or fails to appear for a team or camp assignment. An example of the latter is a foreign player who cannot join his team because of visa problems.

 

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Two players will open the 2012 season on the DL with knee injuries, according to the linked-above DSL transaction page.

 

For one, however, that may be a misprint, as the Brewers media guide indicated that 18-year-old RHP Pedro Peguero underwent surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right elbow January 26th.

 

The other player, 3B Juan De Leon, did undergo ACL surgery on his left knee in January.

 

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There are ten players not listed on the DSL Brewers roster who are still with the organization. These players are currently in Maryvale preparing for their first stateside activity. Technically, four of the players are currently listed on the Helena roster and not the Maryvale roster, perhaps indicating the Brewers' brass believes they are more advanced. This does not mean they will be placed there when the summer short seasons begin in a couple of weeks. We'll see...

 

From the current Helena "paper" roster:

 

SS Orlando Arcia, out for the 2012 regular season with a fractured ankle (may be back for fall instructionals)

RHP Joel Dicent

OF Dionis Hinojosa

OF Jose Pena

 

From the current Maryvale "paper" roster:

 

RHP Juan Francisco

RHP Leonard Lorenzo

RHP Carlos Sosa

C Deivi Mejia

2B Yonki Hernandez

OF Raul Mondesi, Jr.

 

The easiest way for you to visit the past stat lines for these players is to click on their name via the Helena and/or Maryvale MiLB.com roster pages.

 

We will point out that when you look at those two roster pages, you will see names of released players like Seth Lintz and several other released players that had been previously mentioned here. Those two pages get cleaned up once the summer leagues begin.

 

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Finally, there are an additional four players making their pro debut with the DSL Brewers this year. There are others we linked to earlier, but these four were signed just within the last two months, after the Brewers 2012 media guide went to press.

 

RHP Victor Diaz, 6'1", 170, a Venezuelan who will turn 19 in October

 

RHP Junior Flores, 6'1", 175, a Venezuelan who will turn 18 in October

 

RHP Melvin Tejada, 6'3", 175, a Dominican native who turned 17 last January

 

C Kevin Martinez, a 5'10", 180 lb. catcher out of Venezuela, who also just turned 17 last January

 

Given that the Brewers potential success ratio, just on the peripheral, seems to have been more fruitful in Venezuela than the D.R. in recent years, that seems like a good crop to follow.

 

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The Brewerfan Player Index and Transaction Archive have been updated to reflect all these updates.

[Mass Haas]

Those sneaky Brewers -- added a new DSL'er.

 

RHP Felix Paulino made his pro debut Friday.

 

Already 21 years old, 5'11", 165 lb. Dominican native...

[Mass Haas]

LHP Brandol Perez, discussed in detail here, has formally been assigned to the DSL Brewers roster, so we could see him any day now.

[Mass Haas]

From the game of June 5th --

 

But it was another pitcher, converted OF Hitaniel Arias, who catches our attention with a "don't blink or you'll miss it" professional pitching debut.

 

DSL Blue Jays Bottom of the 8th

Pitcher Change: Hitaniel Arias replaces Milton Gomez.

Cesar Barazarte singles on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo.

Pitcher Change: Doni Arias replaces Hitaniel Arias.

 

Wow, that was quick!

 

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And Arias hasn't appeared in a game since...sigh. Not thinking the worse for the young man...

[Mass Haas]

Coming off a promising 2011 with some buzz, 18-year-old 3B Sthervin Matos is sidelined again.

 

He left the club's 4th game June 6th after a strikeout (maybe an oblique?).

 

He returned to action in a DH role June 12th and appeared in five games, but hasn't re-appeared since June 19th.

[battlekow]

We've noted in the past that the interesting international prospects (such as they are) in the Brewers system tend to be disproportionately Venezuelan; ESPN's Jorge Arangure has a nice article that provides some insight into why that might be the case:

 

The argument can be made, to put it crudely, that Venezuelans are the most American type of players outside of Americans.

 

Among international players, scouts consider Venezuelans the most easily adaptable to professional baseball in the U.S. in part because they come from a stronger organized baseball background than other Latin American players. Venezuelans are considered by baseball people to be more educated, more family-oriented.

 

"I think the [youth] leagues in Venezuela are helpful," says Yankees vice president Mark Newman. "Relative to the Dominican, the educational level of the kids from Venezuela tends to be higher, and that is also helpful. After several years in the international market, I have come to appreciate the impact that education has on the ability of the player to grow and develop as a player."

 

Most importantly, Venezuelan players are considered to be fundamentally sound and rooted in baseball knowledge acquired through having played hundreds of little league games. Young hitters learn to recognize breaking pitches through repetition. Young pitchers learn to pitch by adapting to rules that forbid them to throw curveballs at an early age.

[Mass Haas]

Thanks to the caption, we can match names with faces.

[Mass Haas]

The final two days of the DSL regular season have been cancelled because of tropical storm Isaac.

 

The Brewers were idle Friday regardless, so they lose one game off their schedule (Saturday's).

 

A 5th (last-place) finish in their division (26-39), here is a link to the team stats for the season.

 

With a .227 team average in the always offensively-suppressed league, the Brewers (Cerveceritos) were 25th of 35 teams in that category (28th in OPS at .627), 11th in HR (23), 19th in walks, 17th most K's, 4th in SB (successful 65% of the time).

 

On the mound, 19th in ERA (3.67), 23rd in WHIP (1.41), 10th fewest walks issued, 10th most K's.

 

Individual Statistics

 

There were no Orlando Arcia or Ruben Ozuna breakout individual offensive performances as in past years, although just-turned 18-year-old SS Carlos Belonis posted a solid .670 OPS but fanned in 31% of his AB's. 18-year-old 3B Sthervin Matos lost most of his 2nd DSL season to injury.

 

Still 18 years old for a couple more weeks, Venezuelan RHP Gian Rizzo dazzled again, though little news has reached stateside on the slight young man's (6'1", 160) repertoire. RHP Eduard Reyes split his time between the DSL and Maryvale with a nice season, but he turned 22 yesterday, which tempers true phenom hopes significantly. LHP Juan Santiago turns 22 in December, and this was his third DSL season, but his counting and rate numbers were hard to overlook, and hey, he's a southpaw who saw starting action.

 

Certainly if TheCrew07, who (thank you!) covered the DSL kids for us all season, or anyone else wishes to comment on their sleepers or the players already mentioned, please feel free.

 

Until next spring when we see who comes stateside, as several did this season (see the top of this thread), adios, DSL.

 

(NOTE: We'll try and summarize the other seasons as they end in these "team" threads, and I invite the Link Reporters wo covered each squad to do so for us, please and thanks!)

[TheCrew07]

You summed it up well MH, Francisco Castillo or Juan Ortiz might be players to watch, but the positional performances were not very inspiring this season.

[Tedaldtada]

A couple more guys to watch certainly are:

 

OF Elvis Rubio: Although this recently turned 18 year old wore down as the season progressed, Elvis is definitely one to watch for next season.

 

OPS by Month:

June: .803 8 XBH 10:16 BB:K

July: .644 4 XBH 13:16 BB:K

August: .504 2 XBH 4:12 BB:K

 

His .675 season OPS was just a few ticks above the league average (.667).

 

OF Juan Ortiz: Here is a guy who turns 18 in September who just finished his 1st pro season. After cruising to a .790 OPS before the All-Star break, Ortiz crashed din the 2nd half to .508.

 

Overall, his .660 season mark is just a few ticks below league average.

 

OF Francisco Castillo Finally, the lone All-Star hitter (we are pretty sure of that at least), Castillo. He will turn 20 at the start of next season, but I fully expect he will be stateside next season. More of speed guy (30 SB 8 CS), Castillo still managed a league average OPS while keeping fairly productive all season (.662 pre, .675 post).

[HiAndTight]

I think one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Brewers minor league system to me right now is what the hell is the deal with Gian Rizzo?

 

He's absolutely dominated in nearly every outing, but is he a guy who throws 85 and is just simply an advanced pitcher in a pitchers league, or is he a guy who throws 96 and can blow away hitters? I haven't heard anything in regard to what type of stuff he has.

 

Do we have the next Pedro Martinez, or Tony Butler...

[Mass Haas]

Brewers Planning An International Change

Ben Badler, Baseball America

 

The Brewers are not planning to renew the contract of Fernando Arango, who has been one of the team's top scouts in Latin America since 2003, according to a team source.

 

More at the link...